The Natural Alien

187 Pages·1993·9.104 MB·English

by  Neil Evernden

The Natural Alien
Humankind and Environment
The
Natural
Alien
Neil Evernden
Second Edition
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
© University of Toronto Press Incorporated 1985, 1993
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
Reprinted 1999
ISBN 080202962-0 (cloth)
ISBN 080207785-4 (paper)
00
Printed on acid-free paper
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Evernden, Lome Leslie Neil
The natural alien
2nd ed.
Includes index.
ISBN080202962-0 (bound) ISBN08020-7785-4 (pbk.)
i. Philosophical anthropology. 2. Man - Influence
of environment. I. Title
GF80.E941993 128 093-093066-5
The first edition was published with
the help of a grant from the
Canadian Federation for the Humanities,
using funds provided by the
Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada, and
a grant to the University of Toronto Press
from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
For Derek and Blake
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Contents
Preface / ix
Preface to the Second Edition / xi
The Environmentalists' Dilemma
1 Talking about the Mountain / 3
The Cultural Dimension
2 The Fields of Self / 35
3 Returning to Experience / 55
The Organic Dimension
4 A Biology of Subjects / 73
5 Natural Aliens / 103
The Context ofEnvironmentalism
6 The Shells of Belief / 125
Epilogue / 145
Notes / 155
Index / 169
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Preface
It seems a courtesy at least to forewarn the reader that this book, al-
though concerned with the phenomenon we refer to as environmental-
ism, is by no means a treatise on environmental ills and remedies. There
are no frightening statistics or calls to action, and no exhortations
about wise resource use. There is only an examination of the affairs of
mind that make it so difficult to espouse the cause of the environment
without resorting to subterfuge. In fact, even the term 'environmentalist'
is used here in a slightly unusual sense, to designate not a class of
activists but simply those who confess a concern for the non-human.
A second warning may also be necessary to forestall a 'territorial'
response from the many specialists whose areas of expertise are in-
fringed upon. It is undoubtedly irritating to see one's vocation dealt
with in a perfunctory way, but this may be partially alleviated if I clarify
my intentions. Lewis Mumford, arguably the dean of generalists, once
commented that 'the generalist has a special office, that of bringing
together widely separated fields, presently fenced in by specialists,
into a larger common area, visible only from the air. Only by forfeiting
the detail can the over-all pattern be seen, though once that pattern is
visible new details, unseen even by most thorough and competent field
workers ... may become visible.'1 This may seem to suggest too lofty a
role for the generalist, but at least it indicates the difference in intent
which must be recognized at the outset. What is sought is pattern, not
detail, similarities rather than disjunctions. And speculation, anathema
to the careful scholar, is the adhesive that binds the pieces together.